WASHINGTON—Asked about the future of U.S. sanctions against Russia, President
Donald Trump
said he would “see what happens” during a phone call scheduled for Saturday with
Vladimir Putin,
the country’s president.

“Very early to be talking about that,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference Friday, referring to sanctions in response to Russia’s alleged cyberattacks aimed at influencing the 2016 election and those adopted by the U.S. and Europe after Mr. Putin’s military intervention in Ukraine.

“We look to have a great relationship with all countries,” Mr. Trump said.

Saturday will mark the first conversation between the U.S. and Russian leaders since Mr. Trump took office. The discussion comes a month after former President
Barack Obama
adopted new sanctions against Russia after a U.S. intelligence assessment found Mr. Putin ordered cyberattacks aimed at interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

Mr. Trump would receive swift pushback from Congress, including lawmakers from his own Republican Party, were he to lift sanctions on Russia. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said in a statement that lifting sanctions would be “reckless” and if Mr. Trump does so he would “work with my colleagues to codify sanctions against Russia into law.”

Russian officials are hoping Mr. Trump will lift sanctions imposed by the U.S. following Moscow’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin have said they would like to forge better relations between their two countries. U.S.-Russia ties have deteriorated in recent years over Mr. Putin’s military action in Ukraine and Syria.